Hockey: Germans left gasping by England reply

With one game to go, against South Korea today, England have met their Lottery target and qualified for the elite Champions' Trophy. Even better than that, though: they crushed their traditional rivals.

Jane Smith, the Slough striker, scored a hat-trick as England played the most exuberant second half of their lives. Trailing 2-1 at the break, they replied with six unanswered strikes against a team they had beaten only once in their past 10 encounters.

"To win 7-2 was fantastic, but to overcome all that history makes it even more enjoyable," said coach Tricia Heberle. "The Lottery target has been hanging over us and getting into the Champions' Trophy is a real achievement which speaks volumes for these players. Five days ago we were low and flat and it has taken real mental toughness and a lot of hard work to turn that around.

"The last thing I said to the players before the start was to 'get your towels down first'."

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England got the start they wanted when Rachel Walker scored in the second minute, but despite creating some great chances, they trailed at the interval.

"We said at half-time that we needed to work together, to hunt in packs and that it would need courage and endeavour. That's what we produced," said Heberle, who equated the result and the performance with the semi-final victory over Australia at the Commonwealth Games during the summer.

After the break, it took only two minutes for the equaliser to come, Lucilla Wright driving home a corner, and then two more for England to go ahead when Smith touched in a cross from Leisa King.

After 43 minutes it was 4-2, Anna Bennett celebrating her 100th England cap with a dazzle around the goalkeeper and a reverse-stick shot. The fifth goal came in the 46th minute when Denise Marston-Smith flicked home a corner.

It was breathtaking stuff and there was more to come, Smith completing her hat-trick with a steal and shot that dribbled over, and then a lovely finish to round things off in style with 12 minutes to go. "We just kept working and believing," said Smith.

The result was probably the most important of the year for the whole of English hockey, for it secured not only the women's Lottery funding, but the men's too. It has come in a year when the English Hockey Association faced bankruptcy and is England women's best World Cup campaign since 1990.

The bigger fish, meanwhile, battled out two tense semi-finals with Argentina earning their place in tomorrow's final with a 1-0 victory over Australia. There they will meet Holland, victors over China by the same score.

Scotland's hopes of a top-10 place were dashed with a 3-0 defeat by Japan, while Ireland could end up with the wooden spoon after losing 4-3 to Ukraine.